The Blue Jays’ minor league system got a jolt on Tuesday, and Eloy Jiménez was at the center of it.
Toronto released Jiménez as part of a broader round of post-deadline roster moves, ending his latest run with the organization. The 29-year-old designated hitter is now free to sign with any other MLB club.
Jiménez’s time with the Blue Jays has been a stop-and-start stretch. He first joined the organization in September of last season after spending most of the year in the Tampa Bay Rays system. Injuries kept him from reaching the majors in 2025, and after a month in Triple-A Buffalo, he was back with Toronto on a minor league deal in January of 2026, which included an invitation to spring training.
He made that spring count. Jiménez hit .285/.333/.524 with two home runs in camp, earned a shot with the big-league club, and was called up on Apr.
- His stint in Toronto was short, though, and while he hit .290, he didn’t show much power and was used only as a DH, which kept his opportunities limited.
Toronto designated him for assignment on Apr. 29, then brought him back in May. He spent the rest of the year in Buffalo and finished with a .286/.353/.361 line and one home run in 33 games before Tuesday’s release.
Jiménez wasn’t the only player let go. The Blue Jays also released infielder Cade Doughty, right-handed reliever Conor Larkin, right-handed starter Chris McElvain, right-handed reliever Caleb Freeman, first baseman/outfielder Jorge Burgos and right-handed reliever Jorge Alcala.
Doughty, a second-round pick in 2022, was with Double-A New Hampshire and was Rule 5 eligible in December. He hit .257/.327/.390 across two minor league levels this season.
Larkin, a ninth-round pick in 2021, had been pitching in Triple-A and was also Rule 5 eligible. He posted a 6.82 ERA with eight saves in 27 bullpen appearances.
McElvain, acquired in the March 2024 trade that sent Santiago Espinal to the Cincinnati Reds, was pitching for New Hampshire and logged a 7.43 ERA over 76.1 innings. Freeman, who came to Toronto as a minor league free agent during spring training, spent most of his year in Double-A and had a 4.33 ERA in 27 innings.
Burgos, a left-handed hitter signed out of Venezuela by the Cleveland Guardians in 2019 and later added by Toronto last December, hit .268/.354/.437 with seven home runs in 79 Double-A games. Alcala, a seven-year MLB veteran, signed a minor league deal with Toronto this past offseason but was limited to ten games in Buffalo because of an injury.
Along with the releases, Toronto reassigned five players to Double-A New Hampshire. Alexis Hernandez, Tucker Toman and Eric Snow were promoted from High-A Vancouver, while Nick Goodwin and Mason Olson moved down from Buffalo.
Hernandez, a right-handed hitting outfielder, had just been named Northwest League Player of the Week. He owns an .894 OPS with 14 home runs in 73 games for Vancouver and entered the system after being picked in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft.
Toman, a 22-year-old infielder and Toronto’s second-round pick in 2022, has 11 home runs and an .848 OPS in 79 games.
Snow, a sixth-round pick in 2025, has put together a .293/.368/.388 line with four home runs and a 10.8% walk rate in 81 games.
Goodwin, a seventh-round pick in 2023, had a brief Triple-A stop, going 1-for-15 with four walks and four strikeouts in five games. Before that, he played 76 games in Double-A and produced an .834 OPS with 10 home runs.
Olson, a 24-year-old left-hander signed as an undrafted free agent last year, appeared in a pair of Triple-A games and allowed two earned runs on six hits over 6.1 innings, striking out six. With New Hampshire, he made 21 appearances, including four starts, and finished with 68 strikeouts in 57.1 innings, a 4.08 ERA and a 3.58 FIP.
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